A new Dawn in Nuka World
by TheLastThingYou'llNeverSee
Summary: This is a story about Caitlin Two Feather. My FO4 OC Not sure if this will be a cohesive story or a collection of One-Shots. There will be Raiders, Blood and Cursing. That's all the summary you're getting, so go read the story!
1. Chapter 1

Two years ago, peace had come to the Commonwealth. The Brotherhood of Steel had come, claiming the land for themselves and exterminating every single creature they deemed not worthy of life.  
Caitlin had been asked to join. She had met Paladin Danse when she stumbled upon the old Cambridge Police Department and helped him fend off the ghouls.  
Eventually, the Brotherhood soldier has asked if Cait wanted to be part of them. She refused.  
Her people had been victim of one of the biggest genocides in history and she sure as hell would not participate in another.

Cait simply walked away. Her son was missing and she was determined to find him. And when she finally found her Shaun, the woman was overjoyed.  
Sure, it was strange to find her baby was now 30 some odd years older than her, but she took what she could get.  
Shaun had grown up safe and happy, a man of vision and determination, like his father.  
Caitlin didn't agree with everything the Institute thought, especially their treatment of Synths.  
But when her son had asked her to work with him, to shape the Commonwealth for generations to come, she could not say no. Shaun was the one person in the world she would not refuse.

And so, she had met X6-88. The Courser had become her partner on Father's orders. He was cold and unimpressed, but Cait liked him.

She still met up with Nick Valentine in Diamond City, and stopped by to see Hancock when she passed Goodneighbour. But a noticeable rift began to grow between the friends the more Caitlin worked for the Institute.  
Eventually, friendly chats turned into the young woman begging her friends to understand her.  
She couldn't lose her son. Not a second time.  
And so Cait went about fighting the Brotherhood and the Railroad, tooth and nail.  
With X6 and Dogmeat at her side, the strategist kept winning ground. Everything was going her way. And then Shaun told her that he was dying. Her boy was dying and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

A helpless anger took hold of her, bubbling in her stomach.  
Caitlin had always been a woman of action and now she could not do anything to prevent her nightmare from happening and the dedicated mother turned her hopelessness into explosive wrath.

She annihilated the Railroad and then watched as the Prydwen went up in flames.  
There was a quiet remorse as she took out the Railroad. Helping Synths was a noble goal.  
But she felt nothing as the mighty airship crashed to the ground. Nick and Hancock were disappointed that she helped the Institute win.  
But she had done what needed to be done.  
Shaun was dead and Caitlin was not about to let his life's work go to waste.  
Synths patrolled the settlements, the researchers refined their experiments and life went on.

Cait tried to reform the Institute and give them a better name on the surface. But the directors didn't want to hear about it. They tried to make her the director they wanted and taught her about robotics, computer systems and how Synths were made and programmed.  
After two years, the new director realized that the Institute didn't want to change and she began making plans.  
X6 had been immediately promoted upon her assignment, from courser to bodyguard of the Director. Shaun, the child-synth, was always around and kept close.  
Caitlin never forgot that this wasn't truly her little boy, but she came to love him as a son nonetheless.

For Shaun, she was simply "Mommy". So when his mother told him to pack up whatever he wanted to keep with him at all times, and be discrete about it, he did just that.  
Cait, unlike the former director, still regularly visited the surface, so no one batted an eye when she, X6, Shaun and their pets relayed to the surface for an adventure.  
They did bat their eyes when she never came back.  
This could have been the solution they were looking for.

Caitlin knew they would rejoice just until they found the little gift she had left behind for them. She tended to soak knowledge up like a sponge, and had hacked into advanced systems and robotics to make some changes to all newly produced synth. The researchers would have a rude awakening.

She still did not want to be there for it. The implants that Kellog had been given by the Institute were refined and advanced before she herself had received them.  
It allowed her to keep up with X6 and made her more resilient. That was good, because Cait's psycho usage had started getting out of control.

Thinking about all the little choices and events that had led up to this, she sighed.

"What is it, ma'am?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wondered how it got this far..."

X6 was used to the Director's melancholic moods by now. They always passed soon enough. The former courser adjusted his grip on the small boy snoozing on his back. He would never admit this to anyone, but Shaun had grown on him.  
Officially, he'd been the Director's personal bodyguard for the past two years, but truly it was Shaun who he was supposed to protect. And over time, X6 had come to appreciate the boy's curiosity and natural fearlessness.  
Dogmeat and Mishka, the wolf from Far Harbour, were running ahead. The mutts enjoyed the exercise.

"Where are we headed, ma'am? You haven't said yet."

"Will you ever stop calling me ma'am? I'm not the director any more, you know. Just call me Cait."

X6 said nothing, just looked at her. Cait couldn't help but chuckle.  
He'd never stop the formal address.

"Very well. I'm not sure where we'll end up. I just want to be out of the commonwealth before the Institute realizes how strongly they should regret teaching me this much about Synths. We'll just go west till we find a place. Nate was stationed out in Arizona. He always joked we should move there because there is nothing out there worth bombing."

"So we are going to Arizona?"

"Not sure yet. For now we're just going. Tell me when you need a break. Shaun must be getting heavy."

X6 scoffed and Caitlin swallowed a laugh. She was glad that he came with her. The former courser would keep her and Shaun safe, and despite him always saying that was his job, Cait knew better. X6 was like a brother to her, she trusted him with her life. And for Shaun, the older Synth was always like his grumpy uncle.  
They were broken and flawed and far from perfect, but they were a little family, thrown together by circumstance and bonded in blood and suffering.

Cait couldn't imagine anyone else at her side.  
They walked for a few more hours into the beginning night when they noticed a structure in the distance.

"It's the old Nuka-World Transit Center," Cait mentioned, spying the bottles in the darkness.  
"We should check out out. If anything, we might find some valuables."

X6 agreed with her. It took another hour to reach the building, and once they were close, Cait woke her son. The boy was used to it by now, knowing X6 needed full use of both his arms in these situations.  
Shaun stayed behind the adults, Mishka and Dogmeat on either side of him. He tried to mimic how X6 walked, making hardly a sound with each step.  
Together, they advanced into the open space between the parking lots, weapons drawn.  
But there was only silence.

The same was apparent in the Transit Centre. Silence, dust and stale air greeted them. Cait was reminded of a happier time when she saw the train.  
Shaun too, was fascinated by it. Together, they sat down on the dusty leather seats and just smiled at each other.  
X6 let them have their mushy moment and picked through the left-over debris in the train instead. He prodded at the controls up front, just to find they were no longer powered.  
The tall Synth leaned against a pole and watch till mother and son were done enjoying an old train.  
X6 would never understand what lead to him and Caitlin being friends, instead of just partners. And it was hard to put in words, but after everything they had accomplished together, he'd follow this strange woman into hell and kick Satan himself off his throne to set her upon it.

Out of the blue, every single light in dim station blared to life, blinding the three people and their pets.  
The doors to the train slammed shut and the old Nuka-Cola jingle began to play. Caitlin shot up from her seat, pulling her beloved rifle from the seat beside her.  
Through the dirty glass she saw a person standing behind the ticket counter. Scraggly, dirty hair fell into his grinning face.  
With rage, Cait raised December's Child, called for Shaun to duck and started shooting.

Two bullets took out the window, then the train jerked to life. Cait emptied half a clip, but she couldn't see if she had hit the person before the train zoomed out of the station.

"FUCK! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!"

"Mom?" Shaun peaked out from under the seat.  
"What happened? Where are we going?"

"Nuka World, if this station plan can be believed," X6 responded dryly.  
"We have been tricked, by the looks of it."

"I don't care what happened, I will make it back to that fucking station and I will tear that asshole's face off!" Cait was fuming and tried to relieve some stress by kicking against the trains door that naturally wouldn't budge.

Shaun, having moved past his initial concern, stared out the window and drank in the scenery zooming past him. He had never moved this fast!

Well, he figured, the relay was probably a billion times faster, but all you could see was blue light, and that got old after you did that two or three times.  
Here he could see the wilderness, the broken cities that where being reclaimed by nature and- Was that Deathclaw?!

"This is so cool."

Cait was still pacing, muttering about dismembering anyone she could get her hands on when she was interrupted by the ancient intercom crackling to life.  
"Looks like we bagged ourself another bunch of suckers. I only got a minute so you better listen, and listen good," the raspy voice announced.  
"The name's Gage. Porter Gage. And the truth is, you've been set up. You were just exploring, maybe hoping to grab some loot. But this is a death trap. If you somehow make it through alive, I have an interesting offer for you. In the meantime, have fun and put on a good show. I'll be watching."

Static again, and then silence. Caitlin exploded.

"I WILL STICK YOUR GODDAMN OFFER SO FAR UP YOUR ASS YOU CAN TASTE IT, PORTER FUCKING GAGE! AHHHH!"

"Ma'am. Calm down. We will reach our destination, and then we will annihilate them."

It was little use. Cait did not calm down the entire ride.  
She told Shaun to stay behind her and X6 at all times when they arrived, to run when she told him too, and to check the 10 MM she recently let him carry.

She remembered that the ride itself wouldn't take that long, and when the station came into view, Caitlin felt on edge. But when the door slid open, there was nothing for it. They could rot in the train or go face whatever was out there and tear it apart.

Stepping out onto the platform, the old announcement system sprang to life.

"Attention all my favourite undesirables out there. In case you haven't noticed, looks like we got ourselves some fresh meat to run the Gauntlet!"

Cait and X6 shared an uneasy look. This was not going to be easy.


	2. Chapter 2

Fresh Blood for the Gauntlet

"Get this thing off of me!" 

Caitlin was struggling with the Mirelurk bearing down on her. Its pincers were clamped around a board that she'd managed to grab, but it still tried to take her head off. She was completely drenched and slowly, she could feel her strength failing her.

Shaun and the dogs were stamping out the hatchlings, while X6 was clearing out the other Mirelurk.  
Once it was dead, he quickly circled around Cait and shot the sea beast in the face. It recoiled, and two more shots finished it off.

The Synth pulled Caitlin to her feet, receiving a grateful smile from his friend.  
Shaun cornered the last hissing hatchling and instead of wasting a bullet, simply stepped on it.

The boy was having the time of his life. This place was dangerous, sure, but it was fun. He was disarming traps, got to watch his mom and X6 fight; it was a real adventure!  
He was a bit scared of leaving the Institute when they did, but now, trailing after his mother up the small tunnel, it was the best thing that ever happened to him.

Through the door atop the small tunnel the next surprise waited. A long, narrow hallway, littered with explosives. With an uneasy start, Cait noted there was something shiny spilled all over the floor. Gasoline, if she had to guess by the smell. 

"Shaun? You think you can do this?"

Her son nodded confidently. Technology was his thing. He could take anything apart, and he was light enough to get close enough to mines to disarm them.  
It was his modest contribution to his Mom's and X6's work and Shaun was extremely proud to help.

As Shaun inched toward the first mine, X6 reached down just in time to stop Dogmeat the wandering Danger Magnet from following his little friend.  
The Synth kept an iron hold on the mutt's bandana.  
Mishka simply sat down and waited beside Cait.  
The tunnel was slow going, but Shaun acted like a real professional and ignored the heckling over the intercom and worked diligently, but as quickly as he could.  
All the while, Cait hovered over him worriedly. She knew if he made a mistake, she wouldn't be able to save her boy, but she still wanted to let him know she was there.  
They left the mines behind, but every grenade that was dangling from a string went into Caitlin's bag.  
Once they reached the door, she gently pushed her son out of the way and went first.

But before her boys could follow, the door slammed shut.

"What's that? Someone lock you in? Just take a nice, deep breath. It'll all be over soon!"

Cait only had a second to be puzzled before an ominous hissing filled the room. Panic wanted to set it, but she forced herself to remain calm and take shallow breaths. On the other side of the door, X6 was pounding against it and yelling, but Cait couldn't understand what he was saying.

The gas was already making it harder to breath.

"Let's see if this vic can kill the gas before the gas kills her!"

"And once I'm outta here, I'm going to kill you..." she muttered under her breath.  
Against all hope, she first tried to kill the gas via the valves, but it was no use, as the snarky commentary from the unseen announcer let her know.  
She searched around the room, trying to breathe in as little of the fumes as possible. A few radroaches crawled out of the rubble and Cait's first impulse was to shoot them, but that wasn't smart in a room full of gas.  
She made short work of the vermin with her knife.

In one of the desks, she found a holotape labelled 'substation terminal control'.  
She might not be able to turn off the gas, but maglocks needed to be controlled via terminal.  
Some searching yielded the terminal, and as the holotape loaded, Cait could feel her head starting to spin.  
The letters on the screen went fuzzy, but Cait concentrated as much as she could. The command was right there, and she pushed the buttons with heavy fingers.  
They heavy locks snapped open and seconds later, strong arms wrapped around her.  
X6 helped an unsteady Caitlin, Shaun trotting along behind, covering mouth and nose with his sleeve.

Through the next door, fresh air filled Cait's lung, and an ominous buzzing grew in her ears.  
She made a grab for her gun, but X6 very firmly shoved her to the ground and told her to breathe.

"Shaun. It's just ants. Get in some target practice with the bugs." He waited with Cait, his Institute rifle ready, just in case. But he needn't have worried.  
The small boy was having the time of his life.  
X6 had been training him, and Shaun was a good shot.  
Dogmeat was grabbing flying ants out of the sky, making it a competition with Mishka.  
It was only minutes before they were done, but they couldn't catch a breath before the intercom cracked to life again.

"Goddamn, look who's in the homestretch! Time for a little audience participation! That's right, vic. Breathe in that fresh air... while you can."

Even over the static of the ancient tech, that sounded ominous. Cait pushed herself up from the ground. They heard clattering and jeering, so she tried to assess the situation.  
The only way from this old shed was a hallway and the way light filtered down from it, there was a at least partially open roof. Audience participation made her weary.  
She motioned for Shaun and X6 to come closer.

"I don't like the sound of this. But we need to get out of here, so I say we book it. Shaun, you use the stealth boy I gave you and stay close. X6, we both just run like hell. We're fast enough."

"We are, but Shaun isn't, Ma'am. Use your stealthboy, and then you hang on to me. But from the front. You will have to hold on tight, because I can't carry you and run at the same time. Understood?"

"A reverse piggy back ride? Awesome!"

X6 threw Caitlin a suffering look but she just shrugged, too tense to smile.  
With a little swishing noise, Shaun dissappeared, but the way X6's coat shifted, one could see where he climbed.  
The older synth adjusted the boy a bit, then signalled Cait with a nod that they were ready to go.

It was absolute chaos. They ran, Cait in front, then the dogs, then X6 with Shaun.  
Cait had been right, there was a chainlink roof, with raiders shooting down on them. The limb accentuator was saving her life right now, as was the pain inhibitor.  
There was no time to look back, but Cait knew she was being grazed with bullets.  
Careening around a tight corner, she barrelled into a turret, successfully managing to topple it. She felt a heavy thud in her arm, heard the laughter of the raiders above.  
But the laughter stopped when the heavy turret smashed to ground and kept firing through the chainlink.  
Cait kept moving till she reached the door and shouldered it open.  
X6 and the dogs rushed in after her, and she threw the door shut, leaning against it.

Looking around, they found themselves in an old locker room, decorated richly in bodies, blood and rusty metal.

"Homey. Really," Cait muttered as she caught her breath. There was a dull ache in her shoulder, but before she could inspect it properly, someone called over from the intercom.

"You made it through. Impressive. Now listen up, because I'm the only one who can get you out of here alive. You'll be fightin Overboss Colter in the Arena. His power armour is set up to draw energy from the electric grid in the arena. Damn thing's invincible. You name it, someone's tried it.. Miniguns, grenades. Not a scratch. You get what I'm saying?"

"I get that this son of a bitch is gonna die, and if I have to take a ride on Old Sparky to do it," Cait replied coldly.

"I have no idea who you wanna lay, but I stashed a weapon in one of the lockers that can help you achieve your goal. Go find it."

Cait groaned exasperatedly, but then went in search of the mystery weapon.  
Absentmindedly pushing Shaun to X6 to stop him from examining the body impaled on a spike, the young woman begin riffling through the lockers. With a snort of disbelief she found...

"A squirtgun!" Cait yelled as she stomped back over to the intercom.  
"What in the everloving fuck am I supposed to do with a damn squirt gun? Drown him? Or does your bloody overboss have an aversion to bathing?"

"Well aren't you just a real joker," It was clearly meant to sound sarcastic, but Cait could hear the amusement in the man's voice.  
"Anyway, once the water hits the armour, the circuits will short out and you can go on the offensive. It's time, audience is here. I'm gonna open the door to the arena. But this is one on one. Only you, not your friend or your mutts."

She didn't care. This was her fight and her fury and she didn't want any help. Cait didn't hear X6 as she shoved her bag at him.

All she heard was the jeering from the crowd of raiders as she stepped into the Arena.

"..and you, Vic. Are you ready to die?"

"You made me run the Gauntlet with my son. He's ten and he could have died. You're finished, cunt."

The man in the electric power armour laughed at her, but Cait didn't care. There was wrath boiling beneath the surface, ready to be released.  
She didn't even bother with her gun, and pulled her murderously sharp knife from its sheath on her thigh.  
Cait didn't wait for the Overboss to make his move, but launched herself at the man with all the force of her anger and the power of her implants. 

He laughed, until she pulled the squirt gun from behind her back. Cait sprayed her opponent with water and he swore horribly when the suit started sparking and shorting out.  
Caitlin lunged forward, her knife ready, but Colter was battle-proven.  
A huge armoured arm came swinging out of nowhere, knocking the slight woman into one of the broken down bumper cars.  
The impact knocked the wind out of Cait, but she managed to scamper behind the obstacle before she got shot.

The dull pain in her arm had escalated to a steady burning, but Colter's mocking laugh, his taunts pushed Caitlin over the edge and she gave in to her anger.  
When the salve stopped, presumably to reload, the former director of the Institute emerge from behind the car and broke into a run.

The blood pounded in her ears, drowning out everything but her target.  
She blasted him with another spout of water, and when Colter made to block her in the same way he did before, Cait threw the squirt gun at his face.  
This was it, she wouldn't need another chance.

Colter, momentarily distracted by the red plastic zooming at his face, swatted it out of the air.  
A split second later, Cait, smaller, thinner and weaker than him, flew at him with the force of a missile.  
With her free hand, she grabbed hold of the edge of the armour.  
Her blade sang through the air as it sliced into Colter's cheek.  
He stumbled, Cait's weight pushing him off balance.  
The Overboss of Nuka World fell amidst screams and blood.  
But Cait was not done with him yet.

From behind the door to the Arena, X6 and Shaun watched as she let out a hawk-like shriek, driving the blade into the man's face again and again.  
They had both seen this Cait before. The woman made of steel, cloaked in wrath and blood.

Finally, staggering and breathing hard, she stood.  
The blade at her side dripped blood, her face was smeared in it, suddenly there didn't stand the Mother, the Friend, but an eldritch creature. A Death Bringer.

The Raiders were screaming and cheering and Cait's amber eyes flashed with quiet pride as she gazed over the crowd. The announcer, who'd annoyed her all through the Gauntlet, now sounded like music in her ears.

"Holy shit! COLTER IS DOWN! Man, I wouldn't even recognise him any more! Raiders and assorted psychopaths, the Gauntlet has finally met its match!"


End file.
